Big Boys and Girls Do Cry

Ok, I love onions. White, Red, Yellow and especially Vidalias. The flavor they add to anything they're in just makes me happy. In my onion soup at the Cafe at Middlebury Consignment, I use 14lbs of sweet onions per batch! What I don't love, is that they make me cry. I cry like a little bitch!!!!! In culinary school, onions were among the vegetables used to teach us new aspiring chef's knife skills. Chef Bru, who was my hero, was the one to teach us the proper way to handle onions. He was a tall guy from Jersey who sort of reminded me of Dennis Leary. He was funny, talented and he could kick your ass. So, when he was demoing chopping onions and he started to cry, I was shocked. In my novice head, I was convinced that tough guy like Chef Bru was immune to the tear gas produced by onions. It turns out, he was human like the rest of us. All the students were throwing out suggestions on how best to keep yourself from getting brutalized by the attack of the onion gas; light a candle; hold a piece of bread in your mouth; cut the onion on a certain angle.... nope, nope and nope. Chef pointed out that none of those things really work and not everyone is affected by the onions the same way. He said it's one of those things you sort of have to just deal with. Someone mentioned that Paula Deen and her sons would wear goggles when they cut onions. Chef Bru looked up and said we were in a kitchen, not a pool. That was apparently all he was willing to say about that. So, if you have a sure fire cure for keeping your eyes from burning (that doesn't require goggles) I would love to hear it. Until then, I'll continue trying to badass the onions and know that I'm going to look like I was just told I could no longer eat bacon.

Let It Rest.....

Happy Summer! Tis the season for the outdoor bbq. Steaks, Chicken, Pig Roasts and much much more. I was speaking with a customer recently who was telling me about a weekend bbq that upset her. She painstakingly prepared an amazing meal and was shattered when her beef and chicken ended up dry. We went through her evening step by step and the culprit presented itself at the very end. "We got the steak and chicken right of the grill and onto the carving board and sliced it right up". I knew right there the evening was done. "How long did you let the meats rest?" I was met with an incredulous stare - "We wanted to serve it right away". I smiled and said "ah!" When protein like steak cooks, it gets all juicy and starts to bubble out. When you take it off the grill or out of the oven, it continutes to cook. Which means all that yummy juice is still right at the top. If you cut right into it out of the oven, all that juice is going to run out all over your plate and leave your meat dry. (And really, who wants dry meat ;-)) Tent your steak or chicken and let it rest for ten minutes once you take it out of the oven. This allows for the carry over cooking to finish it's job and allow for the juices to settle and keep your meat juicy. Now get out there and grill!!!!!